Music Resources

This page is intended to function as a repository of resources, important web pages, and citations for the content on the site. Because most of what I do as an educator is music related, most of these are concerned with music. As site content grows, expect this page to grow with it. Initially, the web resources are organized into three categories: music curriculum, instruction, and music technology.

Music Curriculum


California State Music Standards - The entirety of the California state standards for music adopted in 2004. The web version (as opposed to the pdf or print versions) has an easily navigable interface for finding the applicable standards for the grade level you are teaching. These may be replaced in the near future with standards that are closer to the "common core" approach, but they should not be too different than they are now.


California Arts Framework - This is sort of a catch-all handbook to address the purpose, organization, means of achieving standards, and means of assessment that are recommended by the state of California for all arts teachers.

National Music Educators Association (NMEA) - A professional organization that is dedicated to providing resources for music educators, it provides periodic publications, tools for funding, and various curriculae. Membership also provides site licensing through ASCAP, allowing public performance of work without the hassle of negotiating a blanket license with ASCAP or having to have ASCAP determine royalty fees for each performance of copyrighted work. NMEA is not a union.

California Music Educators Association - The California chapter of the NMEA, the CMEA provides more local resources for funding, performance opportunity, job postings, and discovery of literature.



California Band Directors Association - A professional association that runs conventions, clinics, honor bands, and more. CBDA also has a comprehensive list of California festivals.

Instruction and Literature Resources


http://www.musictheory.net/ - This is a wide-spreading resource for all things music theory, including self-directed lessons, interactive ear training exercises, and some additional tools for students. The ear training module in particular is of use to students in developing the ability to hear and understand intervals and the relationship between pitches.



SBO Magazine - features extensive and monthly lists of new and classic repertoire for bands and orchestras at a variety of instructional levels.

Literature for Small Bands - A useful list of literature suitable for smaller ensembles, which is often a difficult niche to fill. Includes descriptions, difficulty level, and composer biographies.

Children's Music Workshop - Besides designing method books and instruction materials, the Children's Music Workshop includes a variety of instructional tools for drilling and reinforcing basic concepts and ideas.

Music Teacher's Games - A collection of fun and informative drill and practice games for reinforcing basic concepts, instrument specific techniques, and for ear training. It also provides the same content in test form for assessment and evaluation of student progress.


Music Technology

Tutorials for Finale - Going from the basics up through deep feature sets, this is the easiest and fastest way to self-direct learning of the powerful notation software Finale. Because of the organization, a learner can skip unimportant or irrelevant feature sets and learn specifically the skills they need to complete a project quickly and efficiently.

Smart Music Training Module - The user-directed online training module for SmartMusic assists even the pure beginner in the steps necessary to import a score and practice through simple videos. It also goes deep enough to assist advanced users for performing playing tests, fine tuning playback and user control, and using SmartMusic for live events.



Protoolstutorial.org - Created and maintained by ameteurs and professionals who use protools, rather than the company that makes it (Avid), protoolstutorial.org represents a thorough, well-organized, and most importantly, honest, run through of basic and advanced use of ProTools, the industry standard for recording software platforms. It includes honest lists of hardware and software necessities, how to run the software, and even tips for how to manage the business side of things.

Max and Max/MSP tutorials - Max/MSP is slightly obscure but very important program for using and understanding many of the fundamentals of electronic music and electronic sound production. Using a visual editor of programming components, users can create synthesizers, unique sounds, effects, and even musical sequencing. For students who are serious about understanding just how electronic sounds are made, from their very root foundations as sine waves, MSP is an indispensable experience. The tutorials on Cycling 74's site make the operation of Max/MSP a simple process, with open-ended results that are only limited by the student's imagination.



MOTU Digital Performer Training by recoverysouds - Digital performer is a powerful piece of software used to track midi instruments and modules (such as synthesizers) record digitally, and add backing to live performances. This collection of youtube videos covers many of the techniques necessary to perform these tasks.